Hello all. This is my first post here. I’m finally retired and setting up my small shop. Some tools I’ve bought, and others I inherited. I got an old Craftsman floor model drill press that my dad bought back in the fifties. Heavy, heavy, heavy. Even my two ape-like sons (not because of their strength, but because their knuckles drag the ground) worked up a sweat loading and unloading it here.

I really don’t want to attach it to my garage floor if I can help it. The floor already has some cracks, and I’d rather not drill holes in it. Plus, I’m not sure the location will be the final destination for the press. So I’m looking at attaching some braces to the bottom to keep it from tipping over. The base is about 18” wide and 24” long. So cross braces 36” long would only stick out 9” on each side.

I don’t know if that 9” would be enough or not. If that thing starts tipping, I’d never be able to stop it in time to keep from causing damage, more importantly to keep from getting hurt. I’m going to have it backed up to the wall, but I’m also wondering if I need a brace extending out the front in case it ever tries to tip forward. Any suggestion? Thanks. Jim

-- Jim

6 replies so far

Attach a larger base plate under its base, made of steel or even plywood, and then a small aircraft cable looped arount the top of the column and attached to the wall behind it. Bake the new base about 6” larger all around than the existing base. Tie the cable, or cables if you use 2 at 45 degrees, to wall studs.

This will pretty much be out of the way and prevent the tipping from ever starting.

That’s a big base for a floor model. I wouldn’t particularly worry about it tipping unless you are drilling through some 200 Lb. 4’ long steel that might get stuck. In that case, as soon as it acts like it’s sticking… run like heck!Either put a remote on it to turn it off or know which breaker you need to trip and how hard it is to get to.IF you really want a broader base and more stability, why not layer a couple of pieces of CDX plywood together and bolt through them to some 2X4’s edge on to the plywood. This would give you a nice place to stand if you made it large enough.

Thanks everyone. I think I’ll use a combination of your ideas. I had thought about a foot pedal in case I need to get away from a suddenly spinning piece of material after it sticks. Being a dead man switch (bad analogy) would help greatly if it tipped. Jim

I’d recommend that you build a table for your DP ASAP. Makes it easy to clamp the work piece so there is not chance for it to get stuck and start spinning. In fact, the table fence usually is sufficient to secure the work piece without clamps.